Cancer is the number two cause of death in the USA, killing about a half-million people per year. Early detection facilitates removal of primary tumors, which is critical to prevent metastasis by removal of primary tumors. The early growth phase is a vastly preferable detection window to the subsequent phase of metastatic initiation.
The ability to determine whether cancer exists in the body is generally limited by the ability to remove a sample of tissue and microscopically examine the tissue for the presence of cells that have known traits of cancer. This process is typically completed by slicing the tissue into thin sections in order to achieve resolution that is an order of magnitude smaller than cells, staining the sections with chemicals that label the cells and other tissue components, and placing the thin sections on a microscope for viewing and assessment.
Confocal microscopy is an alternative technique to image cells in tissues that does not require physically slicing tissue, also referred to as physical sectioning. Instead, confocal microscopy implements optical sectioning, different focal planes of the tissue are imaged in place of physical sectioning. Confocal microscopes probe a point within the tissue and scan the point in two dimensions to form an image.
However, current techniques for imaging tissue by confocal microscopy are limited in certain respects. In one example, confocal microscopy fails to achieve a continuous image with both large field of view (e.g. greater than about 1 cm) and high resolution (e.g., less than about 5 μm). In another example, confocal microscopy fails to provide the information that is required to execute pathological analysis comparable to histopathology, which is the preeminent standard. In a further example, confocal microscopy is slow and cumbersome, preventing utility in surgical or perioperative theaters.
Accordingly, there exists a continued need for improved confocal microscopy systems and corresponding techniques.